The Weekend Two Years After

Two years ago this very day, Charly was released from the hospital after 56 days in four different hospitals.  He had a Brain Aneurysm in November of 2017

If you have been a reader of my blog for a while, you may remember that Charly had a Brain Aneurysm or Hemorrhagic Stroke in November of 2017.   It was the kind of health crisis that many people do not survive. 

The mere fact that Charly did survive is an amazing story and a miracle that I can give only God the credit for. 

For quite a while, we did not know what the future held for Charly... 

...but with many prayers, skilled health-care professionals and hard work on Charly's part, he did progress and get better.

He was in four hospitals - three in Arizona and one here in Utah - for almost two months, but two years ago today, he walked out of the hospital.  He has continued to progress and is now completely recovered.  God is so good and has blessed Charly and our family so much!  We all have much gratitude for this great blessing!

Fast forward two years to now, January, 2020.  Here is a bit of what this weekend was like.

Friday morning We woke up to snow.  Here is the snow plow that passed as I was getting ready to leave my driveway. The roads were snowy and a bit slick, but all the snow on the roads was gone by late morning. 

At school, it was a student non-attendance day, so we had meetings and teacher training, until about 10:15 a.m. when we were told to check out with our assistant principal and "have a nice weekend."  I was home by noon.  I was able to have a bit of lunch and then lay down for a little nap.  When I got up, Charly was home, then we went grocery shopping.  

I made some homemade chicken/vegetable soup for dinner, then we went to the mall to walk.

Later, Charly and I watched a Dateline episode Friday night.  I am finding that more and more, Dateline is one of the few shows I watch on a regular basis.  I am not sure why I am suddenly so taken with this show, except that I do know I have always liked true stories and mysteries, and Dateline combines the two. I also listen to several True Crime podcasts, for the same reason.  I skip the stories that detail graphic sex and violence.  Those are not for me.  

Saturday morning, we got up fairly early because it was our turn to help clean our church building.  I cleaned glass doors and windows.

Charly vacuumed classrooms.  We are always grateful for opportunities to help clean the special building where we go to church.

Later, Charly and Josh went to see the new movie, 1917.  They are both war history buffs.  I like history a lot, but war movies, not so much.  I am glad that Charly and Josh could enjoy the movie together, then go out for Chinese food for lunch.

While Charly and Josh were at the movie, I went shopping at one of my favorite thrift stores and found several things to wear and read.  

Sunday dawned cold and snowy.  We went to church, then I did my scripture study, and took a short nap.

By later in the afternoon, the snow had stopped and the sun was out in time for Charly and I have a nice, brisk walk around the neighborhood.

The sky was a beautiful, bright blue.

The mountains looked so beautiful covered with snow and low clouds.

I do enjoy walking with Charly every day.  

Sunday night, I indexed some Civil War enlistment records from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1861.

I have a busy week ahead, and hope to do some reading tonight before bed to relax.  

I want this scripture be my theme for this week. 

I'm back now and an explanation about why I was gone so long...

Hello to all of my blog friends!  

I have missed you.  I just looked back and realized it has been almost a year since I last posted.  That is way too long to have been absent from this space and also the great people I met as a result of posting to this blog regularly.  So I am back.  Posting and looking for blessings and good things in my life is so therapeutic, and that is what I need right now, so I am back in blog land and will be getting back in the habit of visiting your blogs and posting in this space as often as I can.  

Here's Charly and I during a recent night at the Utah Opera performance of "La Traviata."

First, an explanation of why I have been gone so long.  You may remember that my husband, Charly had a brain aneurysm  or hemorrhagic stroke back in November of 2017.  Wow, that was really a tough time - it was so stressful and filled with anxiety.  The really great news is that Charly has almost completely recovered from that event, that was supposed to be fatal.  When I say "almost completely recovered" I admit that he walks a little slower than he used to and gets tired earlier in the evening.  We are usually in bed by ten now.  Before he was quite the night owl.  But those things aside, he has recovered and is today healthy and strong.  He has amazed us all, his doctor included.  Of course, we give God the credit for this wonderful miracle.  

There were some repercussions in our family from Charly's illness that I never in my wildest dreams would have suspected.  For me the time of Charly's illness (52 days in four different hospitals) when I was starting a new job in another state, having to travel between Utah and Arizona every week and complete the move Charly had been working on with all of our furniture and other items, while getting our old Arizona house renovated and ready to sell, was extremely stressful and filled with anxiety.  I managed to do everything I needed to do, but I will admit that stress sometimes overwhelmed me and I didn't handle everything perfectly.  I became depressed and anxiety became a very real thing for me.  Some family members became very upset with me.  Untrue gossip and stories were told about Charly and I to other family members and even people in our neighborhood and church congregation.  I was blamed for Charly's illness (although ALL of his doctors and health care professionals told me I was absolutely in no way to blame).    Truly, it became a nightmare.   My depression and anxiety deepened.  I sought the help of professionals and "put one foot in front of the other" every day.  I did my best, although I was not always at my best, but I kept going.

Fast forward two years. Charly continues to do great, and I am doing better, but relationships remain strained and icey with my two daughters - the mothers of my ten grandchildren.  They are not ready to forgive and move on and I respect that.  They have their journeys in life, but I can't let that affect mine.  My heart has been broken and I still feel sad, but I completely forgive them and stand ready to resume a close and loving mother-daughter relationship whenever they are ready.  With other extended family members, who were extremely toxic during Charly's illness and after,  we have, at the suggestion of family counselors, removed them from our lives, for now and possibly forever.  The mental and physical health of Charly and I has to come first.  That is not being selfish, that is just good common sense.  To use the old airplane analogy, you have to put your oxygen mask first before you can help others.  That is what we are doing now.  

Throughout all of this, I am sorry to say that my blogging took a back seat.  Our lives were so very busy, and when I did have time, I often couldn't muster the physical and mental energy to post.  I am hoping that is in the past, because I do love this little blog, and the great people I have met and who became my blogging friends.  

That's all for now, but I promise to return again soon to post about some of the things that have happened in our lives this past year.  I am excited to revisit my blogging friends and catch up with you as well.  

A Month of Blessings

I realize that it has been almost two months since my last update.  Wow, time flies when you are staying happily busy and occupied. This has been an eventful couple of months with  many blessings.  Here are some of our biggest blessings.

We have a new grand daughter, born at the first part of March.  Meet Ashley Lewis, born to our oldest daughter and her husband.  Little Ashley is the newest of five beautiful children in her family.

Here she is with her big brother Thomas, who is now the only brother with four sweet sisters. By the way, Thomas is still cancer free and doing very well.  He turned 8 last month!

We had a huge snow storm at the first part of March.  It snowed so much one Sunday morning in March that we couldn't dig out in time to go to church.

Fortunately, the snow melted fairly quickly, and now...

 my tulip bulbs are coming up.

They are up even farther this week!

 There are blossoms on the trees...

...and daffodils and in my neighbor's yard, along our fence line. 

Spring is here and welcome to it!

One day, Charly surprised me with these beautiful flowers, so we brought some spring time beauty inside.  I love it when Charly surprises me with flowers. 

Here is one of the beautiful spring sunrises I witnessed this past month as I got out of my car at school. 

A few weeks ago, we attended an anniversary open house for Charly's uncle and aunt. 

It was nice to see his aunt and uncle again and reconnect with his cousins after being away from this area for many years.  We really enjoyed this family reunion!

At the reunion, I was able to get a photograph of this chart, which is a family missionary chart from Charly's family.  It was started by one of Charly's great aunts many, many years ago and unfortunately hasn't been updated for sometime, but it shows the legacy of Christian love and service in Charly's family.  It makes me grateful to be part of this family, if only through marriage.  

Another happy event was attending the Jordan River Temple open house last week.  Josh was with us for Easter Weekend and we began the weekend with attending the open house at this beautiful temple which was originally dedicated in 1982 and has been updated and renovated.  After the open house, it will be rededicated next month. 

 The next day, Saturday, Josh and I attended LDS General Conference at the Conference Center in downtown Salt Lake City.  Charly had a cold so stayed home to watch the proceedings on TV.

Attending Conference is a tradition Josh and I have established and it is one I love.  

We had tickets to the Saturday morning session, but Josh wanted to come on Sunday as well, so we stood in line and were able to get standby tickets to the Sunday morning (Easter) session of conference.  It was a wonderful experience, so hear such inspiring music and speakers on Easter morning.  

We were grateful to have Josh here for Easter Weekend.  It is always nice to be with him.  He has a new job and has been busy so we don't get to see him a lot. 

Last Tuesday, I had the day off for Spring Break, and Charly and I had a very special afternoon together at the Bountiful Temple.  It was a happy day of being together.

This past Saturday was a nice rainy day here in Salt Lake City. After grocery shopping in the morning, I baked treats for the grandkids while Charly went to a movie ("Ready Player One") with their dad. Later, we all enjoyed a nice dinner at Famous Dave’s, then Charly and I took advantage of Educator Appreciation Day at Barnes and Noble and got a jump on some birthday and Christmas gifts for our grandsons. Overall very nice Saturday. 

Our life here in Utah continues to come together and progress.  Charly continues to improve and do amazingly well. We walk 1.5 to two miles a day, and as of last week, Charly has a new job.  He has retired as a teacher in Arizona, and now he is a Reading Specialist at the junior high where I teach here in Utah.  He was getting bored being at home by himself all day and will continue in this job until the end of the school year and hopes to be back as a full teacher in his own classroom next fall.  His recovery and progress continues to make us grateful to God for His many miracles!

I hope to get back into the habit of blogging at least weekly and I am already planning my next post.  Until then remember...

Have a wonderful week!

Miracles Big and Small, Part II - Recovery and Beyond

If you read my last post, you know that my husband, Charly, suffered a massive stroke last November.  His stroke, was the rare kind - the kind that most people don't survive.  Through a series of miracles, Charly did survive and had an amazing recovery.  His recovery continues and we continue to give God the credit for the blessings, tender mercies and miracles we experienced during this time. In my last post, I started counting the miracles we experienced, however, then I realized we had received too many to count.   Here is the rest of the story.

After 20 days in Chandler Regional Hospital, most of it in ICU, Charly was released to Health South Rehabilitation Hospital in Mesa, Arizona for intensive physical and occupational therapy.  

 Charly worked hard and did everything he was asked to do in the various therapies he underwent.

It wasn't always easy, because Charly had to relearn doing basic things we all take for  granted like walking...

...and swallowing. 

Charly worked hard and had an incredibly positive attitude.  Prayers were answered and he made lots of progress and got better and better. 

While Charly was getting better in Arizona, I was spending my weekdays, here in Utah, holding down my job, then flying to Arizona every Friday night to see Charly.  I would return to Utah Sunday afternoon or evening each week to spend the weekdays...

...here with this crowd.  My students were amazingly kind and understanding throughout the entire ordeal, and some still ask me how my husband is doing.  

Finally, by December 21, Charly had progressed enough that he was released from Health South in Mesa.

I flew to Arizona and brought Charly back to Utah with me on Southwest Airlines.  Here we are onboard, getting ready for our flight home to Utah.  

Once in Utah,  Charly stayed at Health South in Sandy, Utah for more rehab therapy.

At Health South in Utah, Charly kept his great attitude.  

He worked hard at all the therapies...

...to get ready to come home and return to a normal life.  

 We spent Christmas Day in Health South.  

 We opened presents there...

...and ate Christmas dinner together. 

Charly's best boyhood friend, Craig Marx, came to visit Charly. Craig lives in Texas but was in Utah to spend Christmas with family.  He came to see Charly several times...

...and they had such a great time talking, tell stories and recalling good times.  There was always lots of laughter and I know that these visits from his friend, were great for Charly, and helped his recovery.

Finally, on January 12, 2018, after 56 days in four different hospitals, Charly was released and walked out of Health South in Sandy, Utah...

...and I brought him home. 

Now, Charly is home and doing great, after too many miracles to count.  His doctor has even told him that he is a miracle, and his therapists have told us that his recovery is much beyond what was normally expected.  He is healthy and happy to be home.   He continues to improve and get stronger. 

Charly has now been released from all outpatient therapy, but he does exercise every day, including walking with me most afternoons when I get home.  

It is so wonderful to have Charly home, and able to do things that I used to take for granted, like going grocery shopping with me.

While Charly has retired from his teaching position in Arizona, he is staying busy at home, unpacking and organizing his books, dvds, financial records (from our move) and learning his new iPhone.  While Charly was in the hospital, his wife decided that he needed an upgrade from a flip phone to an iPhone.  Charly wasn't sure he liked the change, but he is learning to use and enjoy the new smart phone.  

And so our life goes on - in some ways the same as before, but in many ways very different, because our lives have been touched by the miracles of God.